Spiritual Cistern
by cutekittenlady
Summary: Avatar Lance travels to the spiritual cistern in the hopes of using it to save a soul.


The coolness of the ancient cavern seeped into Lance's clothes chilling him to the very bone.

Just finding out the location of the spiritual cistern had been a herculean endeavor in and of itself. It had taken Lance multiple trips to the spirit world, and several meditation sessions with his former lives to even find out if the place was real or not.

The journey had proven to be long and hard. They had had to brave storms, wild animals, the very landscape itself, and a maze of caverns to reach this one shallow pool of water.

But the most difficult part was just about to begin.

It was heartbreakingly easy to guide Keith into the water. The once vibrant firebender now drifted around like a soulless husk.

Which was an apt description considering that Keith, the _real_ Keith, had somehow been lost to the spirit world.

It had been a month since the incident.

Sendak had been a highly respected military leader. Up until he developed a bit of spiritual sensitivity. Left to his own devices, the general had developed the impression that this newfound connection could be used to further his armies success in combat.

It didn't help that Sendak's leader, Zarkon, encouraged the man's unsolicited warmongering and frequent, undisciplined trips to the spirit world.

Lance couldn't sit idly by while an everyday person attempted to exploit the spirit world in the interest of military gain. His dedication to his leader had been admirable, but the man had no clue the kind of forces he'd been dealing with.

Initially the avatar had intended to talk the man down, but this had proven to be a fruitless effort. The old general was a dangerous foe. But Lance was the avatar. The responsibility for taking care of the threat fell squarely onto his shoulders.

The battle against Sendak had been fierce.

If Keith had not come along with him, Lance wasn't sure he would have managed to conquer the foe on his own. Even if he had access to all four elements, he had only managed to truly master waterbending and even then healing had always been more of Lance's forte than offensive bending.

Of course then again, if Lance had just taken out Sendak from the beginning or just been a stronger fighter….

Then Sendak would never have trapped Keith's soul in the spirit world.

Lance had done everything he could to get Keith back. But he couldn't locate the boys fiery spirit while meditating, and even if he had, he was unaware of how to reconnect the spirit to the body.

And then he'd heard about the spiritual cistern.

An ancient cavern that the waterbending masters of old had used to help connect themselves to the spirit world, and whose water was said to be the best when it came to healing ailments of the body, mind, and spirit.

It had already taken longer than expected to find the water. If Lance waited too much longer, the firebender would be lost to the spirit world forever. His soul doomed to wander the otherworld for all eternity and his body dying in the process.

Lance didn't even know if placing Keith's body in the cistern would help the soul return to the body.

It was a long shot...

But it was Lance's only chance to save Keith.

Sitting in the water, Lance undid the clasps on Keith's shirt and tentatively placed his head in his lap. Being careful to keep his head above the water.

Taking a deep breath Lance closed his eyes and concentrated.

His mind had to be clear.

Clear of distractions.

Clear of doubts.

Clear of anything holding him back.

He could feel the edges of his conscious buzz as the barrier between the material and spiritual world thinned around him.

With a smooth flowing motion, Lance lifted a flow of water with both hands and delicately placed them on Keith's cheeks.

He stared down at the peaceful face that looked up at him.

 _It'll be okay_. Lance thought. _If all goes well… We'll be back together soon...Keith_

With that thought, Lance's entered his trance.

And allowed the spirit world to envelop him.


End file.
